A new take on Zelda - no Damsel in distress and a Reminder to the past

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom 

A Fresh Nod to Retro Gaming with a Wall of Inaccessibility

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom offers a delightful and modern twist on the Zelda franchise, capturing the charm and fun of earlier Zelda titles while incorporating a fresh new style. The game brings to mind the golden age of gaming in the '90s, recalling the beloved experiences of playing on the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, SNES, and N64. The top-down perspective and engine used in Echoes of Wisdom hark back to the pixelated nostalgia of those classic games, blending modern visuals with retro charm.

There’s no doubt that Echoes of Wisdom benefits from its unique blend of old-school mechanics and fresh design. It’s an experience that evokes a warm sense of nostalgia, transporting players back to the simpler days of handheld gaming, where titles like A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Ocarina of Time held a special place in our hearts. The fresh art direction and modern mechanics offer a perfect balance between nostalgia and innovation, making it a joy to play.

However, while the game successfully taps into this rich history, it simultaneously draws attention to a pressing issue in the world of retro gaming: the growing wall of inaccessibility. Despite the positive homage to earlier Zelda titles, the ability to access these retro games remains frustratingly difficult. Many of the classic Zelda games that shaped the series—such as Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, or even the earlier Game Boy and SNES titles—are either unavailable or overpriced on the second-hand market, preventing many players from experiencing these masterpieces.

This contrast is impossible to ignore as you play Echoes of Wisdom. The game is a vivid reminder of how much joy these classic titles continue to bring, yet it also underscores how difficult it is for new players to experience the roots of the series. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom embodies the nostalgia of the '90s, but at the same time, highlights how those classic games remain locked away in physical cartridges, scarce and increasingly costly, or buried behind complicated emulation options.

As retro games continue to rise in price and scarcity, it is clear that the gaming industry must do more to make these classics accessible to all players. A more robust and accessible digital library for retro titles could solve this issue and allow players to enjoy the history and evolution of the Zelda series without the financial or logistical barriers that currently exist.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a great game that celebrates the past while offering something new. Yet, it’s also a reminder that while modern technology allows us to revisit the glory days of the '90s, the means to actually do so remain limited, preventing a full celebration of gaming's rich history.

CAGGTUS, Dreamhack and Games Convention Online - Can you tell the difference?

 After the end of the pandamic status the conventions and Cosplay events are starting again, but in the case of the CAGGTUS it seems to be a reboot, replacement or a renaming, because the Dreamhack has left Leipzig and will be held in Hannover for further Dreamhack iterations.

You can find out from April 14th-16th is the CAGGTUS is more than just a Dreamhack/ GC Online in disguise, although in my opinion that would not be bad.

A huge LAN-party for 3 days, Cosplay, Streaming areas, Retro Games, Challenges of all kind and a few more attractions are waiting for you, find out more here:

https://www.caggtus.de/

After visiting the Tokyo Game Show last year and being a little disappointed I am very excited and looking forward to the CAGGTUS. I am actually very curious about the cosplayers, because of TGS's lack of them and because I would love to try my new (old) CANON 300mm 2.8. I will also bring my beloved SAMYANG 85mm 1.4, my Bokeh- and portrait Monster.

XMADDU

After enjoying my last Dreamhack and after this long period without almost any conventions I am happy to experience the new CAGGTUS with the almost exact concept of the Dreamhack.

Hopefully I will be able to make a few new amazing pics like last year's MEX in Berlin

SPINATNAT.ENTE

Dreamhack 2020 about to start

It's January again, so it's time for Dreamhack in Leipzig on January 24th-26th.

I'm looking forward to Europe's biggest LAN-Party. We can expect a few booths for peripheral equipment as well as a few Cosplayers. Dreamhack started to become a bigger red carpet for Cosplayers from year to year, so I wonder what we can expect this year.

Here are a few impressions from 2019:

Tokyo Game Show 2019 - The same procedure as every year

As every Year Tokyo Game Show was held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ~30-50 min from Tokyo, this year from September 12th-15th.

There were many big and impressive booths, e.g. CAPCOM, Square Enix and other, but sadly Nintendo again, I always hope to see them.

CAPCOM presented the new Monster Hunter Iceborne, a new MegaMan Collection which includes Mega Man Zero 1-4 and ZX, as well as ZXA, I always enjoyed the MegaMan series, that is called Rockman in Japan althought it's extremely difficult, but ZX/ZXA and the 2018 released MegaMan 11 are a bit more "user friendly". I remember when I was hunting every part of the MegaMan X series during my Working holiday in 2015-2016, especially 4 and 7 were hard to find, there were not always out of stock, but cost 5,000Yen and more very often, you can always find one of those at the BookOff stores.

At the booth there was also an amazing zombie Cosplayer to represent the Bio Hazard (Resident Evil) series and introducing a new team shooter, where you escape from one of those big bio weapons like Mister X or Nemesis.

Square Enix showed a playable version of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake and the collector edition of Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana) Remake as well as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles beside a few others.

SEGA had the new Olympic game for Tokyo 2020 and the Mario & Sonic at Tokyo 2020 for sure, no surprise but good minigame collection based on the discipline as always.

On Saturday and Sunday there are always coming the Cosplayers who I always enjoy to see, so join me reviewing them

Here are a few impressions from 2017, especially regarding Monster Hunter World and a Cosplay Round Up of 2015 during my Working Holiday can found here: Tokyo Game Show Cosplay 2015

I hope you enjoyed my little around Makuhari.

BookOff - What's that?

Bookoff / Book Off is one the biggest brands for used items in all of Japan. It's famous across the whole country and one can find those shops in every region, from small town shops to big size stores in metropolitan areas.

From used books over to CDs, DVDs, games and other used items like smartphones you will find the perfect preowned product for you, very often in a condition that seems to be new.

Before going to Japan for the first time of my life in 2010 a good friend of mine recommended me to visit a shop called BOOKOFF, he went to Japan several months before me and he loved the shops offering many games and old game guides,I remember he talked about and presented to me a guide book for Fire Emblem 6 Sword of Seals (Fuin no Tsurugi) and I was almost instantly on fire to get my hands on my own copy of the game and this particular guide. And at the end of that vacation in 2010 I had the game for ~3500Yen and owned the guide twise with a third one already being shipped to me from Amazon.co.jp, because I found the book in an average condition at a store in Shinjuku, close to the JR Yoyogi Station (〒151-0053 東京都渋谷区代々木１丁目５８−1) and I wanted to get a better one, which I found on Amazon, purchased it and chose delivery to Germany. Unexpected and maybe karma related I saw a nearly new version of this guide and bought it thinking I could still cancel my Amazon order - pas possible - so I have 3 now.

Whenever I'm in Japan I need to visit those stores beside the big tourist attraction and sightsseeing spots because they always offer a good bargain.

The awesome item condition, the nice prices are the wide variety are just a few reasons to make that stores worth visiting, I've already spent hundred of hours there and found many treasues, mostly games and game guides but also "normal" books, e.g. a few F.R.I.E.N.D.S "encyclopedia" books or a SEINFELD script from the US.

Just to give you an idea, here's my 2010 LOOT:

I'm looking forward to my next visit and the items that I can find. It's hard to decide for a favorite store per region, because the stock always changes and it also depends on your target ignoring everything else, but the one in Tokyo Akiba is a very big one with 6 floors but it got famous abroad and not just throughout Japan so the prices are a bit higher than elsewhere. Ueno and Ikebukuro are pretty good as well, in Ikebukuro I almost everytime found and bought something (more or less) useful, sadly the one with 40.000 foreign books in Tokyo close to the Shirokanedai Metro station is closed.

In Osaka the one in Namba is quite nice. During my working holiday in 2015/2016 while I was in Yufuin I did a Bookoff tour in Oita and Beppu for one day finding treasures like Castlevania Symphony of the Night for 2000Yen and other cool stuff.

Beside the Bookoff shops there are Hardoff, Hobbyoff and other brands that all belong together.
Here are a few pictures of my early years:

Shinjuku

Ikebukuro - Sunshine City

Already closed - Shirokanedai

Gotanda -nice one

Ueno

To round up the BOOKOFF shops and to give a hint about the item variety of the stores and to make you laught I linked the current coomercial campaign, the reactions of the customers in video 3 and 4 are gorgeous

That's all 4 now - See you soon at Tokyo Game Show 2019 or any Bookoff close to you.